The Carthage College men's basketball team (3-1, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) opened play in the Carthage Classic on Friday night, Nov. 23 with an 85-73 win over Iowa Wesleyan College (5-2) at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis. No. 3 Wisconsin-Whitewater (2-0) thumped Aurora University (0-3), 107-68, in the other first-round game. Aurora (0-3) will play Iowa Wesleyan (5-2) in the Saturday, Nov. 24 consolation game at 2 p.m., followed by No. 3 Wisconsin-Whitewater (2-0) taking on Carthage (3-1) in the 4 p.m. championship game.
Carthage opened up a 13-point lead, 23-10, at 12:40. After the Tigers closed to within seven points, 28-21, at 9:19, the Red Men opened up a 19-point margin, 43-24, at 5:14. Carthage led by 13 at the break, 51-38. Iowa Wesleyan turned things completely around at the start of the second period, closing to within four points, 56-52, at 15:12. The Red Men went back up by 11, 68-57, at 8:59. The Tigers made it a three-point game, 71-68, at 3:51 before Carthage went on to win by 12 points, 85-73.
Carthage shot 49 percent (32-of-65), including 56 percent in the first half (20-36), while Iowa Wesleyan shot 41 percent (22-54). The Red Men connected on 12-of-26 three-pointers, while the Tigers made nine-of-23. Carthage won the battle of the boards, 42-31, but Iowa Wesleyan made 20-of-26 from the free-throw line.
Three Carthage players scored in double figures. Donte Logan (So., Evanston, Ill./Skokie-Niles West) scored a game-high 19 points on five-of-eight field goals, including four-of-four from three-point range, along with five-of-seven from the free-throw line, four rebounds and seven assists. Marlon Senior (Jr., Skokie, Ill./Niles North) had 17 points on seven-of-nine shooting, including three-of-four from three-point range, along with seven boards. Mitch Thompson (Sr., Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) added 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Jon Umroen topped Iowa Wesleyan with 17 points, while Kyle Warner had 15 points and seven boards.
"The way Iowa Wesleyan plays is extremely difficult to prepare for," said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic. "They play with unbelievably good confidence and pace on the offensive end. Defensively, they don't take away very much. We made so many poor decisions, but fortunately, we made enough plays down the stretch to keep some separation. They're a really good small-college basketball team. I was pleased with Mitch Thompson's play and with Marlon Senior in the first half. Our pace and our execution was good, but are physical play is still a work in progress. The three teams coming up on the schedule—UW-Whitewater, Hope and Calvin—won't let you play a finesse game."